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Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998), better known by his ring name, the '''Junkyard Dog''' (or, simply, '''JYD'''), was an American {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er from Charlotte, trained by Sonny King and NC best known for his work for "Cowboy" Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling then for Wrestling/{{WWE}} in the late 1970s until the late 1980s.

He started his career in Tennessee in 1977 before moving on to the Hart Family's Stampede Wrestling promotion. He made his name in Mid-South, where he became the first black wrestler to be a top star in a promotion. He became '''extremely''' popular in Mid-South, to the point where, during his feud with the Fabulous Freebirds after they had [[{{Kayfabe}} "blinded"]] him with hair cream, they needed police escorts to and from the arenas. He eventually went to WWE where he was still very popular but without the same success. He also competed over the course of his career in Georgia, in World Class, in the USWA, in Mid-Atlantic, in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and various independents, including defeating Wrestling/KevinSullivan at a cross-promotional show put on by Wrestling/{{ECW}}, the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation and the [=ASWA=] in Essex, MD on November 14, 1993.

Among his in-ring achievements, he was a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/nwa/midam-t.html NWA Mid-America Tag Team Champion]] (As "Leroy Rochester" with Gypsy Joe), a former [[https://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/stampede/ab-na-h.html Stampede North-America Heavyweight Champion]] (As "Big Daddy Ritter"), a former 2x [[https://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/la/la-h.html Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Champion]], a former 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/mids-na-h.html#mswa Mid-South North American Heavyweight Champion]], a former 8x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/mswa/mswa-t.html Mid-South Tag Team Champion]] (1x with Buck Robley, 1x with Terry Orndorff, 1x with Killer Karl Kox, 3x with Dick Murdoch, 1x with Mr. Olympia and 1x Mike George), a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-6.html WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champion]] (with Tommy Rich and RickyMorton) and former [[https://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/uswa/uswa-uh.html USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion]].

His last public appearance was as a guest at ''Wrestling/{{ECW}} [=WrestlePalooza=] 98,'' May 3, 1998, which was held in Marietta, GA, where he was honored as a "hardcore legend" along with Dick Slater, Bob Armstrong and the Masked Superstar. He died in a car accident on June 2, 1998. He was posthumously inducted into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame in 2004 and to the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.
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!! "Grab Them Tropes":
* AfroAsskicker: Sported one back in Mid-South.
* {{Animal Motif|s}}: He would even snap and bark
* ArchEnemy: "The Natural" Butch Reed, the Fabulous Freebirds, Wrestling/TedDiBiase, The Funk Brothers ([[Wrestling/TerryFunk Terry]], Hoss [Dory Jr.] and Jimmy Jack [Jesse Barr]), Wrestling/HarleyRace and Wrestling/TheOneManGang.
* AssKicksYou: For one of his [[SignatureMove favored maneuvers]] was the "Butt Butt", a standing ''Hip attack'' while waiting for a charging opponent, then gave them the back and bent over, crashing his opponent's stomach against himself.
* BadassTeacher: He started Rodney Mack and [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]] on their training before his death.
* BashBrothers: Ted [=DiBiase=], Wrestling/TitoSantana, Dick Murdoch, [[Wrestling/GeorgeSteele George "The Animal" Steele]]
* ChainedByFashion: He was rarely seen in public not wearing "Ruby" in some highly visible fashion.
* ChainPain: As a perpetual baby face he didn't use it on his foes that often, however.
* CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown: Stagger Lee, in Mid-South, after Ted Dibiase cheated in a LoserLeavesTown match by hitting Junkyard Dog with a loaded glove.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Before he started getting the winner's paycheck more often than not he supplemented his income by pushing around a cart he called "The Junk Wagon", filling it with things people didn't want but he could potentially make money with. This lead to the "Junkyard Dog" ring name in Mid-South.
* CrowdChant:
** "JYD JYD JYD!"
** "Who dat, who dat, who dat gonna beat the Junkyard Dog?"
* DancePartyEnding: After winning, he'd usually invited children from the audience into the ring to dance.
* DentedIron: He's a member of the Sports Hall Of Fame who would have played for the Green Bay Packers if not for knee and back injuries cutting his football career short. These same things somewhat limited his movements in the professional wrestling ring and had him acting as a {{jobber}} for a very long time, but he was such a huge sports star already that people were willing to overlook this and he quickly became the top face of Mid-South once he started winning.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: "Grab Them Cakes", a [[StuffyOldSongsAboutTheButtocks song about backsides]].
* DudeWheresMyRespect: One of the ''greatest'' names who ever worked for the big Stamford promotion who never had any title.
* ExtremityExtremist: Besides the head, the man had a mean right hook.
* FallenHero: His drug and weight problems prevented him from getting to the top in WWE despite his popularity.
* ForceAndFinesse: He was the force to Gypsy Joe's athleticism when they were a tag team.
* FriendToAllChildren: Outside the squared circle, he was a true advocate for children's welfare, specially for those in need. Sharing as most of his time and resources as he could.
* FinishingMove: "Thump" (''Powerslam''), it was even written on his tights.
* GimmickMatches: As Big Daddy Ritter in Stampede, he and [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]] had the first ever ladder match.
* HiddenDepths: Graduated with a degree in political science from Fayetteville State University. Yes, that qualifies him as a full-fledged GeniusBruiser!
* HappyDance: Right after a victorious match.
* HardHead: It was practically useless to [[NoSell hit him in there]].
* IHaveManyNames: Leroy Rochester, Big Daddy Ritter, Stagger Lee and the Junkyard Dog.
* LegacyCharacter: Wrestling/BrodusClay, for his habit of bringing in kids to dance with him after his matches.
* ''{{Leitmotif}}'': Music/{{Queen}}'s "Another One Bites the Dust."
* NameOfPower: It is a point of contention among marks if a name is necessary but the ''Powerslam'' is not a finisher more often than not these days.
* NonIndicativeName: He has the junkyard look with his perpetual chain wearing. The chain was neither red nor holding any additional decorations, raising the question of why he called it "Ruby".
* PopularityPower: Drawing big figures for WWF in spots where not even [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "The 24 Inch Pythons"]] could.
* PowerStable: As a {{Heel}} in Stampede, he was part of Foley's[[note]]JR Foley, real name John, no relation to those [[Wrestling/JimRoss other]] [[Wrestling/MickFoley guys]][[/note]] Army.
** In Mid-Atlantic, he was part of Jimmy Valiant's Boogie Woogie Brigade.
** In NWA/WCW in 1990, he was part of Wrestling/{{Sting}}'s [[LaResistance "Dudes with Attitudes"]] group.
* PowerTrio: In NWA era WCW with RickyMorton and Tommy Rich as one third of the World Six Man Champions.
* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Fellow football player Butch Reed was presented as his student and hopefully eventual successor should Junkyard Dog ever need to leave Mid-South Wrestling. Reed eventually did succeed Junkyard Dog, but it took a lot longer than intended due to his own betrayal of Junkyard Dog in an attempt to speed up the process.
* SignatureMove: Besides all those already mentioned, there was a standing ''Headscissors Neckbreaker''. A verily ''[[RingOldies ol'e school]]'' maneuver consisting on bending the opponent over to lock the head between his knees, then taking a little leap up, and releasing in the landing.
* SoulBrotha: Loved by fans and most of his peers alike.
* SquashMatch: At ''The Wrestling Classic'', he flattened his second-round opponent [[Wrestling/TheMoondogs Moondog Spot]] in a mere '''27''' seconds. In fact, it was ''so'' fast that he just counted his own pin because the ref hadn't gotten down to the ring yet.
* TagTeam: As noted above, 8 times champion in Mid-South and 1 in Mid-America. Not very often in WWF but amongst his tag-partners you can find Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith, Wrestling/SgtSlaughter and even The Hulkster.
* TemporaryBlindness: The Fabulous Freebirds conspired to blind him with hair cream so that he wouldn't be able to see the birth of his daughter. Junkyard Dog attempted to get a measure of revenge before his sight recovered by wrestling one Freebird, Michael P.S. Hayes, in a dog collar match where lack of sight would not be as much of a hindrance.
* UseYourHead: Possibly, his most recognizable strike. Every time JYD got his opponents lying on the canvas would get on all fours and charged multiple times butt-heading' em to oblivion.
* TheWorkhorse: His ''Junk Wagon''. At the very beginning, just a mere gimmick accessory, it was shopping cart full of weapons ranging from his trademark chain to PipePain that he used to roll every time he was outnumbered in a match.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Ted Dibiase was his tag team partner before betraying the more popular Junkyard Dog and temporarily succeeding in getting him out of Mid-South Wrestling.
* WrestlingFamily: His nephew got started in professional wrestling as Redd Dogg, later known as Rodney Mack in WWE.